LONG TIME NO SEE FAYETTE: IF YOU CHECK THE ARCHIVES, YOU'LL FIND A WEALTH OF INFO ON "ARCHIE BELL AND THE DRELLS" FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS!!!...ONE THING THAT I DO FIND INTERESTING ABOUT ARCHIE...IS THAT HIS BROTHER...RICKEY... BY ALL ACCOUNTS A REAL "STAND UP GUY"... DIED, FOLLOWING A TRAGIC ILLNESS... AND WAS AN ALL AMERICAN RUNNING BACK AT SOUTHERN CAL... WENT ON TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL WITH, I BELIEVE, THE TAMPA BAY BUCANNERS...THIS YEARS NFL SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!...ARCHIE WAS VERY PROUD OF BROTHER RICKEY...AND YOU'D SEE HIM ON THE SIDELINES DURING MANY OF RICKYS GAMES!!!...PLUS...THE DRELL'S COULD NOT ONLY SING...BUT THEY COULD DANCE JUST AS GOOD AS THEY WANT TO!!!...STU

I met 1968 Olympic champion Wyomia Tyus at the Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago in 1984 and she told this story. During the final for the 200 meters, Australian competitor Raelene Boyle noticed her doing a "strange exercise". Years later when Boyle visited Tyus at her home in L.A., she recalled the situation and asked her what that "strange exercise" was that she was doing at the starting line. Wyomia explained to her that there was a dance at the time called the Tighten Up, and that that's what she was doing. Not a musical story, but it has a certain relevance.

DVD MIKE: GREAT STORY!!!...WYOMIA TYUS WAS AN OUTSTANDING TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE IN THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE LEGENDARY WILMA RUDOLPH!!!...PERHAPS ARCHIE HAD SOME SORT OF STRANGE AURA REGARDING SPORTS TRAINING AND CONDITIONING!!!...IF HE COULD GET WYOMIA AND GOLD MEDAL...AND BROTHER RICKEY ALL AMERICAN HONORS...PERHAPS THE WOEFUL DETROIT LIONS COULD ADD HIM TO THEIR STAFF!!!...STU

Speaking of Wilma Rudolph, she was a neighbor of mine when she lived in Chicago in the early-mid '70s, I went to high school briefly with her daughter, Yolanda. Wilma was a statuesque beauty, all six feet of her.

I remember getting a phone call from Gamble way back in 1968 in which he said.."hey Eli can you be in New York on Monday morning at Atlantic studios ?" I said .. "sure, who ya cuttin'" he said.."Archie Bel and the Drells" The songs was I just cant stop dancin. After that we started to record at Sigma.

"I Can't Stop Dancing" and "Do The Choo Choo" were recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios in NYC on June 18, 1968. Thom Bell arranged the first song and Bobby Martin the second. Gamble & Huff produced the majority of Archie Bell & The Drells hits on Atlantic after "Tighten Up". "Love Will Rain On You", the b-side of "Do The Choo Choo" which also charted was produced by the group's manager, Skipper Lee Frazier at Atlantic on June 3, 1968 along with "Do You Feel It" and "You're Such A Beautiful Child". Frazier produced 5 more songs on the group on October 24, 1968 at Jones Sound Studio in Houston including chart single "Just A Little Closer". After the final Gamble & Huff sessions in November 1969, Atlantic assigned the group to work with Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro. Their efforts included their final Atlantic chart single, "Wrap It Up" recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Alabama in June 1970, the arranger was Wade Marcus.

Interesting story about "Tighten Up": when the record hit the charts, Archie Bell was serving over in Vietnam. He came back to the States to discover that there were SEVERAL different groups touring the country, claiming to be Archie Bell & the Drells!

Needless to say, Archie got back with the act and put a stop to that, bringing the real thing to music fans across the country!